12th Annual Undergraduate Scholars Forum a Success

From left: Dr. Heidi LaVine, Andreia Marcelo, Thomas Booker, Cydney Funk, Hannah Fuglaar, Connar Hadley, Shelby Harrison, Anna Koestner, Ashlynn LaFlamme, Sean Pelato, April Sita, Cameron Gehlert, and Dr. Carolyn Perry.

By Dr. Carolyn Perry, Professor of English and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning

On Thursday, April 18, despite classes being cancelled, Coulter Science Center was filled with students who appeared eager to learn. The Undergraduate Scholars Forum took the place of regular classes that day, and more than 130 students were there to present their papers or posters. The day began with a kick-off session to teach new students about the purpose of the USF. Cailey Edwards served as our student presenter, and she gave a fascinating demonstration of her video project from Dr. Cinnamon Brown’s course on “Scandalous Women in History.”

Above: Student Presenter Caily Edwards. 

The opening session was followed by several concurrent sessions, with paper topics ranging from accounting fraud to social justice and happiness to literature and film to national security, and posters from education students as well as those studying physics or physiology. We also enjoyed the project demonstrations by our pre-engineering students, who learned to build a wide assortment of objects in their introductory class. The day closed with the presentation of academic and Scholars Forum Awards. Congratulations go to the following students:

Members of the Honors Program
Thomas Booker
Hannah Fuglaar
Cydney Funk
Connar Hadley
Shelby Harrison
Anna Koestner
Ashlynn LaFlamme
Sean Pelato
April Sita
Cameron Gehlert
Andreia Marcelo

The Cameron and Jessie Day Prize in Biology
Madison Rybak

From left: Dr. Gabe McNett, Madison Rybak, and Dr. Carolyn Perry.

The Margaret McDonald Jaeger Psychology Award
Raegan Huhn

The Outstanding History Thesis
Trevor “Doyle” Dow

From left: Dr. Sam Goodfellow, Trevor “Doyle” Dow, and Dr. Carolyn Perry.

The Cranshaw Scholarships
Larke Tyler and Brett Gould 

The Piper Scholarships
Whitney Wilson, Estefania Proano, and Andrea Ramos

Outstanding Poster
“Cadavers, Death Anxiety, and Adolescence”: Khaled Khalili, Larke Tyler, and Abbegayle Sutterfield

Above: Abbegayle Sutterfield, middle, and Khaled Khalili.

Outstanding Papers
“The Inherent Challenges of the Dark Web and National Security”: Andrew Broyhill
“American Holocaust Cinema”: Travis Parker
“Terrorism or Tension: A Legal Analysis of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921”: Melissa Rolseth

Best Creative Project (Cover Design)
Khaled Khalili

Congratulations to all of our outstanding students, and thanks to everyone who made the Undergraduate Scholars Forum a success, in particular the members of the Teaching and Learning Committee, the Education Association, the Ambassadors, and the Stubbs Family for their ongoing support.